Shadow Teddie
Shadow Teddie (クマの影, Kuma no Kage) is a boss in Persona 4. It is the Shadow Self of Teddie. Appearances *''Persona 4'' / Golden: Boss **''Persona 4 The Animation: Minor Antagonist *Persona 4 Arena Ultimax: Playable Character Profile ''Persona 4 He is fought after the Shadow Rise boss battle. The player will always begin the battle with full HP and SP, no matter what their previous condition was. The appearance of Shadow Teddie is that of Teddie's normal bear suit but in a much larger form. The most noticeable features are his claws and the fact that his head has two giant holes in his face that expose nothing but darkness. This is a representation that Teddie is indeed 'hollow' in the inside. In addition, he emerges from the ground, subtly hinting at Teddie's true nature. Shadow Teddie speaks in a deep, dark and demonic voice, and in Persona 4 Golden, after he transforms to attack the party, his voice sounds very similar to Ameno-sagiri's. After his defeat, Teddie confesses to his shadow-self. It then accepts and transforms into Teddie's persona Kintoki-Douji. ''The Animation'' In the animation, he appears in episode 10 after Rise Kujikawa confronts her shadow, saying that seeking the truth will only bring suffering. He then starts to destroy the striptease, sucking in everything and everyone as they try to hang on. However, Teddie ends up being sucked in, and confronts his shadow in an alternative world. Rise asks Yu Narukami, both having yet to have been sucked in, to hold Himiko down so she doesn't get pulled away. Yu calls upon Izanagi to do so while Rise tries to scan the area, but the fog is too thick to get a proper analysis. The only thing they can actually see in there is Teddie, his location being inside of Shadow Teddie himself. Yu then has Izanagi attack the location before anyone else can be pulled in, thereby defeating Shadow Teddie. Everyone gathers around Teddie, saying they'll support him in his quest to find himself. Teddie is tearfully grateful, as his shadow becomes the Persona Kintoki-Douji. Rise says she senses a great amount of power coming from it, and is happy for Teddie. ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' Shadow Teddie is the body the Malevolent Entity possesses for most of the story and uses to act as General Teddie. Using his power the Malevolent Entity is able to hide the shadow's eyes unless he wishes to show them or talk seriously. In P3 story mode, he fights Yukari in this body in order to prevent her and Junpei from interfering in his goals. Later, he abandons the vessel once it is no longer able to sustain him for a more suitable one: Sho Minazuki. Due to the Malevolent Entity controlling it, Shadow Teddie doesn't disappear like the others upon defeat. Additionally, some of his win poses involve him shedding his "skin" to reveal his human form. Stats ''Persona 4'' Persona 4= |-| Golden= Strategy ''Persona 4'' Shadow Teddie primarily uses Ice and physical attacks, along with a variety of buffs and debuffs meant to manipulate the damage output of himself and the party. However, most of his strongest attacks are heavily telegraphed; he uses Marakunda before Heat Wave, precedes Mabufula with Mind Charge, and uses Nihil Hand two turns after casting Ultra Charge. Shadow Teddie will only break these patterns if a dialogue event is triggered before he can use the attack associated with the buff/debuff, in which case he will immediately use his intended move the turn after he uses Nihil Hand. This will likely only be problematic if he used Mind Charge before the dialogue trigger, in which case the player should remember to guard after Nihil Hand to endure the incoming Mabufula. At this point in the game, the player will not have much choice in terms of their party lineup. Yukiko can provide a valuable source of healing and decent damage, provided that she guards whenever Shadow Teddie casts Mind Charge. Chie and Kanji are both effective damage dealers (with the former also having a helpful Ice resistance), but require ample healing support to maintain their barrage of HP-draining physical attacks. Yosuke and the protagonist can double as backup healers, provided the latter is given the proper persona. The protagonist can equip Jack Frost, King Frost, or Ganga to protect himself from Mabufula, either on a permanent basis or as soon as the boss casts Mind Charge. A Persona with resistance or immunity to Physical damage is also useful for enduring Shadow Teddie's physical strikes, particularly if it has powerful attacks of its own or buffing spells. Shadow Teddie's Nihil Hand can be negated by guarding the turn before the attack hits. As such, use the turn when he begins charging to heal everyone and buff the party instead of immediately guarding. If enough damage is done during the charging sequence, Shadow Teddie loses control of the charged energy and is knocked down, exposing him to an All-Out Attack. However, this is only a viable option in a New Game +, as the damage required to interrupt the charge is likely to be impossible for the party to inflict at this point without significant grinding - especially since Shadow Teddie will start preceding Ultra Charge with Nullity Guidance, an attack that instantly dizzies a target and inflicts decent damage. If the player is aware of his patterns and prepared with resistances to his main forms of attack, Shadow Teddie becomes little more than a battle of attrition. Between his high HP, lack of weaknesses, and ability to Silence the party, he can take a while to defeat, but a constant barrage of non-Ice attacks will eventually wear him down. Battle Quotes ''Persona 4'' *''"I am a Shadow, the true self. I shall give you the "truth" you claim to hold so dear... the inescapable fact of your death here!"'' **'Chie': "Was that creepy thing inside our Teddie?" **'Yosuke': "I guess he was a lot more troubled than he looked ... we have to save him!" *''"Foolish beings ... accept your end with dignity and grace!"'' *''"Stop this futile struggling. Even if you resist, it will all come to naught!"'' *''"What?! How can you summon such strength for such a futile endeavor?"'' *''"Why do you still resist? Even if you win, naught but suffering awaits!"'' *''"Anything you do is futile!"'' *''"What is that I see in your eyes? Inescapable fear?"'' *laughs* *''"The world needs me ... not you!"'' *''"You ... are unnecessary in this world!"'' *''"The only truth given to you is death. That's all."'' *''"Ngh ... how impertinent!"'' *''"Ngh ... how dare you?"'' *''"It's useless!"'' *''"Death suits you!"'' *''"Say farewell to your friends!"'' *'*laughs*' "...Farewell!" *''"Now, I shall release you from your suffering!"'' *''"Your bonds will shatter!"'' *''"How dare you ... senseless humans..."'' ''Persona 4 Arena Ultimax'' Victory Quotes ;General *"I am a shadow, the true self..." *"How foolish. It would've been easier had you just averted your eyes." *"Simply lie where you are. There is no need for you to reach the truth." *"Don't bother contemplating things. Keep your eyes closed in your warm cocoon." *"Let's put an end to this folly. Accept everything and return to where you belong." *"I'll teach you imbeciles something. It's meaningless no matter how much you struggle." *"All that needs to exist is the end that you desire. Just shroud everything in fog again..." ;Character specific *Yosuke Hanamura: "Hahah... How does it feel to be utterly humiliated by one you played guardian to?" *Teddie: "I'll force a failure like you to remember as many times as necessary. In the end, you are still empty." *Aigis: "You are like me, in that you were born from an empty vessel. You should stop thinking." Gallery Trivia *Shadow Teddie makes a small cameo in Persona 4 Arena, as a variant of Teddie's "PuppeTeddie" attack, accompanied by a high pitched scream. *Shadow Teddie's Arcana is the Moon according to analysis, despite representing the Reverse Star. *When Shadow Teddie appears, Rise states that she felt a powerful presence intervene. This implies that the enemy is not just Teddie's Shadow, but includes also an early manifestation of Ameno-sagiri. **This was supported by the fact when Adachi was possessed by Ameno-Sagiri at the climax, his voice was identical with Shadow Teddie's. *Right before the battle, the Shadow is interrupted by Teddie as it is about to reveal his true nature ("You are but a mere-"). There are two explanations to the fact that Shadow Teddie knows it: whether Teddie knows it and refuses to admit it, or the "more powerful presence" behind the Shadow infuses it with further knowledge. * One of Teddie's new moves in Ultimax involves another Teddie appearing in a similar manner that his Shadow did, and even performs Nihil Hand. While this is being carried out, Teddie's body is deflated, a callback to his state when his Shadow manifested after he managed to destroy Shadow Rise.